Feeling her husband’s strong yet gentle arms around her waist and the warmth radiating from his body calmed her mind. As his hug slowly released, she was met with his merry smile. She knew what was coming next. The butterflies erupted in her stomach as she patiently awaited her husband’s kiss that could come at any moment... but Anima turned around and reached for the doorknob, leaving Luina completely dumbfounded.
“I have to go.”
“Umm... No kiss?”
“I’ll wait until I get home,” Anima chuckled as he watched Luina fidget. “It’ll help motivate me in the upcoming battle.”
“Then I’ll patiently wait here until I can get that kiss,” Luina said with a mellow smile.
After flashing one last smile at his wife, Anima exited the room. He met up with Shaer, and the two left the inn before the sun had risen. They trod the quiet, empty streets heading to the gate opposite the one they had entered from and left Barjyo.
By the time they made it out of the city, the light had slowly begun to illuminate the green plains, banishing the shadows of the night. As he imagined the wonder in his family’s eyes if they could have seen the spectacle, a warm smile appeared on his face.
“Lord Anima, we should make our way to the bridge posthaste,” Shaer urged from above.
“I know.”
Anima readied himself and blasted off toward the bridge, cutting through the morning fog. He wanted to deal with the monster and get back to his family as soon as possible so they could enjoy the rest of their trip together. Driven by that desire, he put his decades of rigorous training to use and navigated the road at breakneck speed. It didn’t take long before the beautiful plains came to an end, and he and Shaer entered a bleak wasteland. Seeing her land a bit ahead of him, he stopped as well.
“Your running speed is quite impressive. I’m aware the minotaur stone enhances your physical abilities, but I worry if you’ll be able to fight after expending so much mana.”
“Don’t worry. My reserves are bottomless.”
“I believe in your abilities.” Visibly wary of something, she gazed into the distance. Anima followed her gaze and spotted a strange line. Taking a closer look revealed that it was a crack—a precipice splitting the land as far as the eye could see. “Can you see the bridge there?”
Squinting his eyes, he found the bridge Shaer was referring to, a small figure resting on it. He couldn’t make out the figure’s appearance from such a distance, but it certainly looked like some sort of monster. Shaer had reported that it was a human girl behind the monstrous appearance, but it made no difference if it were human or demon; Anima’s focus was on one thing alone.
“You’ll help me contact the king if I defeat that monster, correct?”
“A knight never goes back on her word.”
“I certainly hope not,” Anima stated almost threateningly, and began walking toward the monster.
“Are you heading into battle already? Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy you’re so eager to fight that monster, but as she doesn’t seem to have noticed us yet, wouldn’t you like to take a bit more time to, umm... get yourself into the mood to fight?”
“There’s no need. I have more than enough reason to end this quickly. I’ve been in the mood to fight since long before we got here.” He wanted to go back to his beloved family—that was the only thing on his mind. “You’d best watch this battle from above.”
“I shall. It’s quite disheartening to admit, but I would likely only hinder your ability to fight if I were to stay beside you on the battlefield.”
Shaer flew up into the air, and Anima blasted off in the direction of the monster, closing the distance in no time. On his approach, the monster had either heard his footsteps or seen him coming, as it started walking toward him. Once they’d gotten close enough to make out each other’s appearances, Anima stopped for a moment. What was making its way toward him was a creature the likes of which he recalled vividly.
A large, dragon-like creature. Its body was covered in scales, and its wings and tail were long and menacing. Save for its color—jade green rather than crimson—it looked the same as Malshan had when he’d transformed and attacked Anima and his family. There was only one reason that a human girl would look that way.
She’s using a magic stone from one of the Harbinger’s familiars?
If that was the case, it meant that she was the descendant of one of the few select families that had fought alongside the Scarletts in their heroic battle against the Harbinger. Why would someone of that status go down the path of misdeeds? Malshan may have wanted Luina dead, but his motivation was clear: he wanted the Harbinger stone for himself. In contrast, the girl he was about to fight was simply acting as a roadblock. Could there have been some grand scheme she planned to fulfill by blocking access to the bridge?
Anima racked his brain, but he couldn’t figure out the answer without any information. The monster didn’t seem eager to nonchalantly share her plans either, so his only option was to get her to talk by force. Or so he thought.
“You’d better be Merkalt, m’kay?” The monster spoke to Anima. Her voice was rather high-pitched, as though she were still quite young. It caught him off guard. “Don’t you dare ignore me, m’kay?”
The monster was furious. Like a child throwing a fit, she repeatedly stamped the ground with her tail, filling the bleak wasteland with claps like thunder and making it shake. She was far stronger than any adult; her strength was incomparable to that of humans as a whole. No average person could even begin to imagine what a monster like her would be capable of during a real battle if such a display of power was being used as a mere form of intimidation. They would lose whatever will they had to fight, if not their entire consciousness, out of fear.
Anima, however, didn’t even flinch. Not only had he fought creatures that were several magnitudes scarier, but he also had to protect the peaceful life of his family. He couldn’t afford to run even if he was scared. He prepared his calmest tone to answer the monster.
“Malshan won’t come. I beat him.”
“Really? You’re stronger than Merkalt? M’kay...”
“I am. The difference is like night and day.”
“I sure hope so, m’kay?”
The monster curled its wide mouth into a smile and slowly started making her way toward Anima. Her wings spread, she pulled her imposing tail behind herself as the sun glistened off her sharp claws.
“Wait.”
To his surprise, she actually stopped.
“What’s the matter? You scared? Terrified, even? Good! Then run! I’m not interested in weaklings or women, m’kay?”
“Why do you not have an interest in weaklings and women?”
“’Cause I’m the strongest woman there is, m’kay?”